Open Practice with Tod Kowalczyk: Defense Drills, Transition Offense, Shooting and Conditioning-Centric Skills Drills

with Tod Kowalczyk,
University of Toledo Head Coach;
2x MAC Coach of the Year (2021, 2023);
5x MAC Regular Season Champions (2014, 2021-2024);
4x MAC West Division Champions;
led Toledo to a school-record 27 wins in 2014 & again in 2023;

In this excellent Open Practice, you are invited to sit in on two loaded practice sessions to see how Coach Kowalczyk organizes, delegates and instructs as well as:

• Warm-up drills for guards and forwards
• Set plays and press offense
• Defensive and offensive breakdowns

Learn from one of the best in the game and start improving your program today!

Practice One
This first practice has a defensive focus as Coach Kowalczyk guides his players through skill development and habits that translate to game execution.

Things start off with an offensive improvement session where the team is split into position groups and run through a quick paced series of skill development drills. Some drills are done on both ends while some are specific to forwards and guards.

From there the team goes through what Coach Kowalczyk calls 5 on 0 Live where they work on their sets on both ends of the court. You will get some great plays to put into your own playbook!

A full court segment comes next where various drills are done that work on transition defense and offense, shooting and scoring, and press offense. Everything moves at a quick pace as players work on the reads on both sides of the ball.

Staying with the defensive mindset, players move to a defensive breakdowns portion of practice where habits are reinforced in small to whole group drills. The Duck-in Drill is a great passing and post defense drill where three players work as a unit to get the ball to the post. This drill works on both sides of the ball as post players work to get open and defenders work on ball side and helpside positioning.

Things finish up with a 4 on 4 Shell drill which puts it all together. You’ll also see how Kowalczyk teaches ball screen defense and finishes with the Belmont Drill. This one has a scoring system where you can only get points while on defense.

Practice Two
Practice two is all about offense. It begins the same as the previous practice with offensive improvement and 5 on 0 Live. Here you will get to see their “flow” on offense as they practice different actions converting from full court to half-court offense.

Two passing drills that work on conditioning as well as getting the ball inside are then shown. Coach Kowalczyk then runs them through a 2-minute game where they work on a specific emphasis of the day with a shot clock.

After this, they move to half court to full court execution where you will get to pick up several great quick hitting plays. A great drill that works on special situations in an unscripted way is the 76-76 drill. They notch up the practice tempo with a shooting drill that conditions while getting up threes.

Watching Open Practice videos is a great way to improve and refresh your coaching through observing well-run sessions. Tod Kowalczyk does not disappoint; you get everything you may need to improve your team from plays to drills to insightful coaching cues. Coaches will want to dive into this Open Practice video today!

139 minutes. 2024.